HOW MARIJUANA LEGALIZERS CAN WIN OVER SOCIAL CONSERVATIVES

By Keeping Marijuana Illegal We Are Actually Giving Our Children Easier Access To It.

Last year I had the honor of being one of the many former police
officers who served as a spokesperson for the Yes on 19 marijuana
legalization campaign in California. During that effort I learned a
lot about politics, and one of the biggest lessons was that many of
the proponents of marijuana legalization need to learn how to talk
more effectively with social conservatives.

I am not just talking about Republicans. Many of the older Democratic
Latinos and African Americans that voted against Prop. 19 would be
considered "social conservatives." Remember, this is the same group of
voters that helped pass Prop. 8, the initiative that banned same-sex
marriage in California in 2008.

All too often, social conservatives are cast off as people that can't
be won over. My experience on the campaign trail shows that this
couldn't be further from the truth; it all depends on what arguments
you use.

When talking with social conservatives, resist the urge to emphasize
how much tax revenue could be gained from legalization, or racial
disparities in arrest rates, or even how marijuana is "safer" than
alcohol. Those arguments will most likely fall on deaf ears. Also try
to avoid using what many reformers view as "conservative" arguments
like how much money we are wasting on enforcing marijuana prohibition.
While that is a great argument for fiscal conservatives, social
conservatives generally have other issues that end up outweighing
concerns they have for small and streamlined government.

Many social conservatives primarily oppose marijuana legalization
because they are under the impression that keeping it illegal is
somehow making society safer. And while many of them also share a
desire for fiscal responsibility, they are generally willing to
support government expenditures that they view as protecting national
security and public safety.

So, if a social conservative believes that legalizing marijuana will
"flood" the streets with it and lead to the moral decline of society
- -- or in other words, "the sky will fall" -- you can see why they
would support continued prohibition.

This means that when you talk to a social conservative about
legalization, you should focus on how our current prohibition on
marijuana is making society less safe.

But how?

Most social conservatives don't realize that by keeping marijuana
illegal we are actually giving our children easier access to it.

So, politely remind your social conservative conversation partner that
the neighborhood drug dealer doesn't check ID. He doesn't care how old
their kids are; all that matters to him is if they have cash. And
that's why federal surveys consistently show that teens generally have
had an easier time getting their hands on illegal marijuana than
obtaining legal and age-regulated alcohol.

Those same illegal marijuana sellers also recruit teens to push
marijuana on other children. Just ask any teenager where the best
place to buy pot is, and the majority will tell you the same thing:
their peers in high school.

Remember, just like how when we made alcohol illegal during
prohibition, today's ban on marijuana doesn't get rid of it and it
just means that instead of being sold in a legal and regulated system,
it is relegated to an illegal market where there are no rules and
anything goes.

Yes, it's true we do arrest dealers when catch them. But once you take
down a dealer, another always steps up to snatch his market share
within a matter of weeks, if not days.

Emphasizing the violence that prohibition causes -- not just between
rival traffickers, but also brutal attacks on law enforcement and
innocent civilians -- is a particularly effective tactic in this sort
of outreach.

As a general rule, try to remember when talking with social
conservatives that being respectful of their opinions can go a long
way. Please realize that as an advocate for reform, your goal is not
to argue against their conservative principles, but that the primary
task is to help them realize that prohibition violates these
principles they so deeply believe in.

Finally, don't be discouraged if it seems like you're not really
making any headway in getting the person to look at the issue in a new
way. It's not easy to get social conservatives - or anyone - to
immediately change their minds about long-held beliefs, but planting a
seed during a conversation now can make all the difference in the
world the next time they find themselves in a voting booth staring
down at the Yes or No box of a marijuana initiative.